Research Intensive Series in Engineering for Underrepresented Populations (RISE-UP) is CEED’s undergraduate research program
CEED began its Research Intensive Series in Engineering for Underrepresented Populations (RISE-UP) program in 2005, with support from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Science Technology Engineering & Mathematics Talent Expansion Program for Underutilized Populations (STEP-UP), Intel, Hewlett-Packard, the University of California Leadership Excellence through Advanced Degrees (UC LEADS), the UCLA Undergraduate Research Center – Center for Academic and Research Excellence (URC-CARE) and the NSF-funded Center for Scalable and Integrated Nano-Manufacturing (SINAM). During the Summer of 2005, CEED had a total of fifteen undergraduate students involved in its inaugural 10-week, summer immersion, research program. The program has since been expanded to include academic year, as well as summer research appointments, and is now funded by Intel through the Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC) and Lockheed Martin.
The purpose of this program is to keep CEED’s engineering and computing students, particularly from underrepresented groups, interested in the excitement of learning. The ultimate goal of this program is to encourage these young scholars to go on to graduate school and perhaps the professoriate. RISE-UP challenges and inspires students to stay in engineering and computing or to use those problem-solving skills no matter their future endeavors. In addition to conducting research, RISE-UP Scholars also attend workshops on preparing for graduate school and present their work at the annual CEED RISE-UP Poster Competition in August of each year.
To date, there have been seventy-two RISE-UP Scholars, and 97% have been retained in their major. Fifty have graduated, with thirty-three graduates (66%) going to industry and thirteen (26%) pursuing advanced studies.